Mastering Educational Technology through Boise State

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I am a GED Instructor with the Pittsburgh Job Corps. Job Corps is a training program associated with the Department of Labor for youths 16-24. On Friday (June 13, 2014), I will celebrate 9 years there. Five years ago, we received Promethean boards and this led to my decision to pursue this program. I also provide training to my peers on educational technology tools.

This is my ninth class in the MET program. In the fall, I will take EDTECH 505 and do my portfolio next spring (which I, unfortunately and against suggestions, have not done much preparation for, yet). I plan to attend graduation in May of 2015.

Nines are wild, as that will be the age of my oldest dog, Lacie J., at the end of July. She is a black and white Shih Tzu. We added a second dog to our family this winter. Lucky is a 6 months old brown and white Pomeranian mix and he is a rescue. He shares my wife’s birthday. We will celebrate 17 years of marriage three days before Lacie’s birthday.

Since 2001, I have worked part-time as a game day merchandise vendor for the SIX-Time Super Bowl Champion Pittsburgh Steelers. The extra money comes in handy for vacations to Las Vegas, a destination my wife and I thoroughly enjoy. Beyond the gambling, we love taking tours – Hoover Dam, Grand Canyon, horseback riding in Red Rock Canyon – and seeing shows like Wayne Newton, Terry Fator and Recycle Percussion. However, our favorite vacation was to the Black Hills. We did a helicopter flight over Mount Rushmore and the Crazy Horse Memorial and drove out to Devil’s Tower in Wyoming. The picture in my advertisement was taken at President’s Park in 2006. I guess I’ll have to go back out and get one next to the “THIS SPACE RESERVED FOR THE 45TH PRESIDENT” sign.

I better wrap this up. We are trying to train Lucky, so I need to spend sometime teaching him to “sit”. Besides, it will give Lacie a break from being tormented by him. I wish everyone well in this class and in the rest of the program. I look forward to learning about PBL with you.

This communication plan was designed through a collaborative effort of James Russell and Joseph Bodnar.

ROUTINE ADMINISTRATIVE TASKS

Check messages in reasonable time frame. Conventional philosophy is to check daily and reply within 24-48 hours. For me, I know that I personally like to get replies quickly. My plan would be to make every effort to respond right away to messages received (as I would want), even if it was just to say I would look into the question and respond more fully later.

Provide ample ways to be contacted. At the very minimum, provide a phone number and an e-mail address. Other means include text and social media sites. For more immediate contact forms (phone and text) provide time frames when you will be available.

Monitor student participation. Closely monitor discussions for abuses (listed under Management Issues and Strategies). By confronting abuses quickly, you can ‘nip it in the bud” (as Deputy Barney Fife would say). Many disagreements occur over misunderstandings that get out of hand. A neutral party intervention can allow for them to be resolved before that point.

Check social boards to keep abreast of concerns. Social boards can be a great source for the teacher. Participation is not needed.

Check tech help forums. Monitor and provide students with assistance and resources to help correct such issues.

Make notes of students posts. These will come in handy when providing feedback, interjecting questions and grading.

Check/update course links. It can be very frustrating when students click on a link and the page no longer exists. Regular checking of links, especially before the module begins, can help ensure students don’t waste time.

DISCUSSION FORUM STRATEGIES

Introductions. The instructor and each student will post an introduction. The introduction will include a favorite activity/hobby, something interesting they would like to share and identify a favorite lesson or activity they enjoyed or learned from during their school career. Icebreakers are a good way of introducing oneself.

Learning Logs. Students could keep a weekly log of activities, assignments, and readings they completed during the course, similar to a learning log. Each week the instructor would provide a list of expected work to be completed and during the week each student would create and update a post of work completed, struggles and obstacles overcome, what they learned, enjoyed or struggled with.

Forum Guidelines. The teacher should provide detailed guidelines, including due dates, number of communications and type expected, netiquette expectations, etc. Here is an example of a Netiquette page that could be used.

Student-led discussions. Every student should have an opportunity to me the facilitator of a discussion. The student should create their own question for other students’ responses and moderate the discussion by following the example of the instructor and this communication plan. Here is a good starting point.

Quizzes/Scavenger Hunt. To promote more reading of students’ posts, the instructor could take notes of key points made by students. Using these notes, the instructor crafts a quiz or scavenger hunt for the students to complete, which would require them to read their classmates’ posts.

Groups. If the class is large, it is a good idea to break it up into groups for discussion forums. The groups can be permanent for the entire length of the course or they could change regularly. Allowing students some choice in the group they belong to can help ease them into discussions. There may be a need for the instructor to set the groups, but even then, a hybrid model would work well. An example of this would be having students choose groups based upon the time zone they live in. Each group would have a limited number of slots available per time zone. This would force students to have to learn how to account for this issue.

Roles. Role-playing can be a great way to have a discussion. Taking on roles requires the student to think of an issue, not from their own point of view, but from that of another person – one that might be in total contradiction to their own.

Roles can also be used to group students. Students can join a group by choosing a role in that group. Then, the groups can be jumbled so that all the same roles are put in a group. This group would have a discussion to develop their points of view. Then the student would return to their original group and participate in the discussion from that point of view.

Frequently asked questions. This is a section that gets updated every time the course is taught. When students have questions, they can search here first. If the question is new, then it can be added on at that time and for the future.

DISCUSSION FORUM ASSESSMENT

Communication Plan Rubric

Online Discussion Rubric

4 – Excellent

3 – Good

2 – Acceptable

1 – Unacceptable

Initial Assignment Posting

Posts well developed assignment that fully addresses all aspects of the task.

Posts well developed assignment that addresses all aspects of the task; lacks full development of concepts.

Posts adequate assignment with superficial thought and preparation; doesn’t address all aspects of the task.

No assignment is posted.

Quality of Information in Post/Thread

Information clearly relates to the main topic and adds new concepts, information.

Information clearly relates to the main topic.

Information partially relates to the main topic.

Information has little or nothing to do with the main topic or simply restates the main concept.

Participation

Creates new posts and encourages others. Regularly participates and responds to others posts.

Creates new posts, and comments frequently to others posts. Aso, students who slightly over-post.

Does not create new posts and occasionally comments to others posts. Also students who regularly over-post.

Only responds to the facilitator or students post at every opportunity without giving others a chance to get involved.

References

Two or more supporting examples are provided/referenced, information is well organized.

One supporting example is provided/referenced. Information is well organized.

No supporting examples are provided/ referenced but information is organized.

No examples provided/referenced and organization is poor.

Mechanics

Appropriate language and tone used consistently throughout. No errors in spelling, grammar, or punctuation

Appropriate language and tone used frequently throughout. Fewer than 5 errors in spelling, grammar or punctuation.

Language and tone is inappropriate. More than 10 errors exist in spelling, grammar or punctuation causing reading to be difficult.

MANAGEMENT ISSUES AND STRATEGIES (CONTINGENCY PLAN)

Over-posting/Under-posting. These two issues are related. Sometimes under-posting (student makes only the minimal attempt to post) is a result of students being intimidated by others who post many times (over-posting). In order to control over-posting, students should be limit to one post and one or two replies before the first deadline. Over-posting is included in the rubric (above), but students will be given an opportunity to adjust before having reduction.

Not all under-posting is a result of over-posting. A student new to online classes may be uncertain of the whats, whens, whys and hows of posting. The may be naturally introverted and uncomfortable. Like over-posting, under-posting can affect the grade and the student needs the chance to adapt. Both issues require careful guidance from the instructor.

Inappropriate posts. Inappropriate posts will be deleted and the instructor will handle this on a case by case basis. This could result in receiving a zero for participation in discussion boards.

Confrontational posts. Confrontational posts should be avoided if at all possible. It is important to keep in mind that what you write could be perceived by someone else as confrontational. Please be aware of your tone and voice when contributing.

Misunderstood posts. Sometimes the above three issues can be the result of a misunderstood post. A good rule to follow is to respond outside the forum in a document. Then, come back after a little while and review what you wrote as if you were a different person. Do you have questions about what you wrote? Does the tone “sound” appropriate? As a course moves forward and you develop relationships with your classmates, maybe you can share with one of them for their thoughts. Remember, that the nature of asynchronous learning is that it is more time-involving, so you don’t need to post immediately.

Late posts. To prevent students from posting at the very last minute, separate deadlines are created for initial postings and responses. However, waiting until the deadlines to post doesn’t allow students to fully engage with their classmates and get the most from the discussion.

Poor quality posts. A good rule to follow is to record your comments in a venue outside the discussion forum. Then, before copy and pasting your post, wait some time (like the next day). Go back and reread your comment. Does it still make sense? If not, adjust and then wait some more. Another idea is to ask a classmate to review your post first and ask them if they have any questions.

Technical issues. Technical issues can and do arise. Please contact the instructor as soon as possible with an explanation and he/she will deal with this on a case by case basis.

“Vanilla” posts. Often, students find it difficult to post comments that disagree with another student’s post (especially among older, adult students). A requirement that students post a certain amount of opposing point of view comments is necessary. A good rule of thumb would be 20-25% of the post should be taking an opposing view. Even if you agree with a post, it is a good idea to post an opposing view. By forcing yourself to try and look at the other side of the issue, you might find some valid points, allowing yourself a more complete understanding of an issue.

This is my first blog. It will cover my time as a student in the Masters of Educational Technology program at Boise State University. This is my introductory video. It tells about my goals in the EDTECH program, what I hope to achieve, and how it will affect my career and other goals. I hope you enjoy it.